There is no doubt Razer is among the biggest gaming brand out there. It specializes in gaming hardware, software, and system. However, the company has now launched a new its first non-gaming laptop—the Razer Book 13. With this, it looks like Razer is trying to penetrate into the Ultrabook market. Let’s take a look at the specs, features, expected price, and availability of Razer Book 13 in Nepal.
Razer Book 13 Overview
Design and Display
Talking about the design, Razer Book 13 looks quite similar to Blade Stealth 13. It sports a portable unibody design. The chassis is made from CNC anodized aluminum, while the whole thing weighs around 1.34 kg.
As the name implies, Razer Book 13 features a 13.4-inch display with a four-sided thin bezel. Users can choose between FHD and UHD resolution. Further, there is a touch and non-touch option for the FHD variant. On the other hand, the UHD variant only has the touch option. Irrespective of the configuration, the display in the Razer Book 13 comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 6 protection.
Performance and Memory
The base variant of Razer Book 13 is powered by Intel’s Tiger Lake Core i5-1135G7. It should be the first time that the brand is offering the option of Core i5 on its laptop. Thus, the company is advertising it as an exclusive variant. The other two models are powered by Core i7-1165G7.
There is no discrete graphics and users have to make use of the Intel Xe Graphics that comes with Intel’s 11 Gen Core 5 and Core 7 processors. While it may not match more powerful discrete GPUs, Intel claims that the new Xe graphic units are up to twice as powerful as its predecessor. Users can also buy Razer Core X separately to connect an external GPU to the laptop.
Razer has also included a Vapor Chamber cooling system that cools the device as you go through more demanding tasks. As far as the memory is concerned, the laptop will come with 16GB of RAM (dual-channel) and 512GB SSD storage. The Exclusive version has only 8GB of RAM that is paired with 256GB of SSD.
Intel Evo certification
Talking about productivity, the Core i7 models of the Razer Book 13 are Intel Evo certified. The Exclusive model doesn’t have it as the certifications require the laptop to have a touch display. Evo certification ensures longer battery life (Razer claims endurance of up to 14 hours), instant wake and resumes feature, quick recharge (30 minutes ~ 4 hours usage), and best-in-class connectivity (Wi-Fi 6 and Thunderbolt 4).
Rest of the specs
Like the Blade Stealth 13, the Razer Book 13 comes with the Per-Key RGB Backlit Keyboard. The keyboard is powered by Razer Chroma RGC and users can personalize the lighting of each key as per their style. The sound system on the laptop is backed by THX Spatial Audio. For biometric, the laptop comes with Windows Hello facial recognition. Getting to I/O, you get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB Type-A port, a full-size HDMI port, a MicroSD slot, and a 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo port.
Accessories
If users want to make the most out of the Razer Book 13, they can also buy separate accessories from Razer. The company is promoting the Razer Laptop Stand and Razer Core X on the product page of the Razer Book 13. The former offers an inclination to up to 18-degree, while the latter uses one of the Thunderbolt ports and allows users to connect a discrete GPU.
Razer Book 13 Specifications:
Design and Build: Anodized Aluminum unibody, Mercury with Tone-on-tone Razer logo
Connectivity: Intel Wireless-AX 201 (IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ax), Bluetooth 5.1
Ports: 2x Thunderbolt 4 ports, 1x USB Type-A port, 1x HDMI port 2.0, 1x MicroSD slot and 1X 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo port.
Battery: 55 Watt-hours
Adapter: 65 Watts
Razer Book 13 Price and Availability in Nepal
Razer Book 13 has been launched with a starting price of $1,199.99 for the base variant. The Core i7 variants costs $1,599.99 and $1,999.99 for UHD and FHD (touch) variant respectively. We can expect the price of Razer Book 13 in Nepal to start at NPR 1,50,000 if it launches here.
Xiaomi launched Mi Box 4S just a few months ago and the company has already launched its Pro variant in China. The Xiaomi Mi Box 4S Pro improves on some aspects over the vanilla variant, of which the most notable is the support for 8K video playback. Let’s learn more about the new Mi Box 4S Pro, including its specs, features, expected price, and availability in Nepal.
Mi Box 4S Pro Overview
Design
The design of the Mi Box 4S Pro is quite similar to the Mi Box 4S. However, the former is only available in White color option. It is a square box with its corners round. Mi logo is stamped on the top surface. One can also notice the groove that goes around the box except for the back where Xiaomi has included all the ports.
Internal Specs
The main talking point of the new box is the 8K video decoding capability. The Mi Box 4S Pro supports 8K video playback. The vanilla model only supported 4K video playback. Similarly, Xiaomi has also upgraded the HDMI interface from 2.0 to 2.1. The company has not talked about the processor and GPU so, it is likely to be the same Quad-core A53 cores paired with Mali 450 that was on the Mi Box 4S. The RAM has remained the same at 2GB but the internal storage has been bumped from 8GB to 16GB. Since Mi Box 4S Pro is only available in China, it ships with MIUI for TV. However, the company should switch to Android TV, if and when Xiaomi launches it outside the domestic market.
While Xiaomi has not provided any further details, the listing of the product in Xiaomi’s Chinese store confirms the presence of a USB port. The USB port along with the HDMI port, AV port, and power-in is placed at the back of the device.
Xiaomi Mi Box 4S Pro Price in Nepal and Availability
Mi Box 4S Pro is now available in China where its price is 399 Yuan. According to Android Authority, the company is not planning to launch it outside anytime soon. However, should it launch here in Nepal, we expect the price to be around NPR 8,000.
As Daraz is getting ready for the biggest online shopping festival of the year, the e-commerce platform has announced many promotional campaigns and contests. One of them being the Ludo Tournament where competitors from four different countries including Nepal will compete against each other in a game of Ludo for exciting gifts. Let’s learn more about the South Asian Ludo tournament and other contests by Daraz, including the dates, rules, prizes, and the rest of the terms and conditions.
South Asian Ludo Tournament by Daraz
Daraz will host the inter-country Ludo tournament between November 11 and 13. The competition will take place on Daraz’s official Android app. The entry is open for nationals from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.
Talking about prizes, the winner (if from Nepal) can win Daraz vouchers up to NPR 15,000. The best performing player from Nepal will win a new Titan watch worth up to 25K. Similarly, the second-best performing player will receive exclusive gifts from Vans and Erke. Finally, the third-best performing player will win gifts from Alpha Home.
You can register for the tournament by clicking on the Ludo tournament banned inside the Daraz app.
Under Mission 11:11, users will be assigned 11 daily tasks, which upon completion, will yield different rewards and prizes. The Mission 11.11 section on the Daraz app will have the list of the missions between 1st and 13th November. To take part, login to Daraz App, click on the Daraz Mission 11.11 banner, and start completing the listed missions. Note that you can only complete one mission per day. Users can track their progress by entering their email address. Grand Prizes include Whirlpool Microwave (worth Rs. 19,000) and Xage Tablet (worth Rs. 8500). To be eligible for the grand prize, users must have completed at least 11 missions.
Add To Cart & Win
The third contest on this list is the Add To Cart & Win. Under this scheme, customers will have to add products for their desire from the “Add to Cart and Win” page to their cart. Daraz will select 7-11 winners on a daily basis. These winners will take home the product for free. It is valid from November 1st up to November 12th. Winners will be announced on Add to Cart Page on the Daraz app.
I bet that every one of us has been in a situation in which we have lost important data from our computer. Be it a result of human error, malware attack, or system/software failure we have all been there. There are plenty of tools on the internet that claims to fully recover your data. But not every one of them tend to keep up their promise, and some are too complex for normal people to use. In this post, we’ll be taking a look at the Do You Data Recovery Tool—a fast and easy tool that you can use to recover your lost data.
What is Do Your Data Recovery Tool?
Do Your Data is a premium data recovery tool that is available for both Windows and Mac users. It can recover a wide range of files such as photos, videos, emails, archives, audio, folders, and documents. The tool can come in handy in case of data loss due to accidental deletion, formatting, partition loss, software crash, power failure, and even virus infection.
File Types Supported:
File Type
Supported Formats
Document
DOC/DOCX, XLS/XLSX, PPT/PPTX, PDF, CWK, HTML/HTM, INDD, EPS, etc.
First, head over to the official site (Windows, Mac) and download the appropriate version of the tool depending upon your computer’s OS platform. Or, you can use the link given below:
Complete the installation process and launch the software. You will be prompted to select the hard drive that housed your lost data. After selecting the drive, hitting scan will complete a quick scan of the device. For better results, you will have to select the advanced scan option. The scan will take some time to conclude but it will give better results. However, users are allowed to pause and even stop the scan process as per their convenience.
Scanning For Recovery File
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Do Your Data Main Window
Quick Recovery Scan
Advanced Recovery Scan
Once completed, the search results can be filtered according to the path, file type, and time. Users can select the files that they need and hit the Recover button. The tool does not recommend saving files on the same drive where they were originally saved. Users can even choose to store the recovered files on a storage media.
Recovering File
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Selecting File To Recover
Selecting Destination
Recovered File
The neat thing about this tool is that you can export your search result whenever you don’t have enough time to go through all the search results. Whenever you are free, you can import the search result and recover items that you couldn’t recover during the initial search.
It’s a story like every other. Xiaomi has remained unbeatable in the budget and mid-range smartphone segment in Nepal when it comes to pricing. Time-and-again, Xiaomi phones manage to take the top spot in our pick for best devices under different price ranges. And here, the Redmi 9C is yet another fine addition to the company’s lineup of budget smartphones. Let’s discover more about the Xiaomi Redmi 9C in this review.
Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS / A-GPS / Glonass / Beidou, micro USB 2.0, 4G LTE
Sensors: Accelerometer, Distance, Ambient Light
Battery: 5000mAh with 10W charging (18W fast charge support)
Colors: Midnight Gray, Sunrise Orange, Twilight Blue
Price in Nepal: Rs. 12,999 (2/32GB) | Rs. 14,999 (3/64GB)
Redmi 9C Review:
Display
6.53-inches HD+ IPS LCD panel
Fair enough quality for the price
Now, being a budget device, the display here is nothing extra. It’s an LCD HD+ panel with 270 PPI. Good thing is that it’s a big screen, so even budget users get to enjoy the perks of a huge display. About the quality of it, you will notice that videos look a bit on the softer side, but the colors are natural.
So, it’s good enough for viewing content. Redmi 9C’s display is sufficiently bright too even for outdoor usage. During the review, I compared the display of Redmi 9C against the Infinix Hot 9 Play. As it turns out, the former is not as bright as the latter. But that’s just me nitpicking. Overall, it’s a good display for the price.
Design
Plastic build material
Textured finish at the back
The design of the Redmi 9C speaks “budget” with the entire phone being made of plastic. It has this textured design that helps prevent smudges on it and the phone is well built too. Its big form factor does not make it suitable for one-handed usage but it’s not one of those “uncomfortable to hold” phones, so I am okay with that.
The square-shaped camera module at the back looks different in a good way and you have a fingerprint sensor below it, which as I stated earlier is the only thing that differentiates this phone and the Poco C3. The sensor does a good job but the thing is it’s weirdly smaller than other sensors that we are used to seeing. But again, it’s not that big of a deal I guess.
I have this “Sunrise Orange” color variant of it which I am not a huge fan of. I prefer subtle color options, but this one’s definitely good for someone who is into vibrant colors on smartphones. On the top you get a headphone jack and down below you have a speaker grille, a microphone, and a micro USB port.
Considering its budget nature, I do understand Xiaomi’s choice for a traditional micro USB port. I just hope in 2021, all devices shift to USB-C, once and for all. And by the way, you get a dedicated slot for SIM and microSD card here which is a good thing.
Performance
Octa-core MediaTek Helio G35 SoC (12nm)
2/3GB LPDDR4x RAM with up to 64GB internal storage (expandable)
MIUI 12 on top of Android 10
Talking of performance, we get the entry-level Helio G35 manufactured on a 12nm process coupled with PowerVR GE8320 GPU. I have the 3GB RAM version which did not bug me for my everyday social media and general usage. For gaming though, the entry-level PowerVR GE8320 does not run demanding games like PUBG very well even in the most basic of settings.
So, I switched to PUBG Lite and got a much smoother experience with the graphics set to smooth and extreme frame rates. Having said that, COD is playable in low graphics and high frame rates without much frame drops. But if you are someone who only involves in light gaming, this phone will fare you well.
MIUI 12
Onto the software side of things, Redmi 9C runs on MIUI 12.0.5 based on Android 10. And although it’s appreciable that Xiaomi is shipping this device with its latest software, MIUI 12 feels a little heavy and overpowering on this phone. You can feel the phone lagging when you open the control center and navigating around the phone seems a little slow too, especially when using it after some idle time.
Yet, Xiaomi does give you the option to change the control center to its previous version by going to the display settings. And the good thing is that Redmi 9C is already running on September’s security patch and I hope for faster updates in the future too. Like with the majority of budget and mid-range Xiaomi phones, you are greeted with unpleasant ads in the UI and default apps. You don’t have the option to turn it off altogether but you can always use other third-party apps if the ads in default apps feel annoying to you.
Cameras
Triple cameras at the back
(13MP primary, 2MP depth, 2MP macro)
5MP selfie camera inside the teardrop notch
Cameras
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Back Cameras
Front Camera
Now, let’s talk about the cameras of the Redmi 9C. You get a triple camera setup at the back consisting of a 13MP primary, a 2MP depth, and a 2MP macro sensor and for the price, these sensors definitely do justice, except for the macro lens.
Macro Images
But of course, I think a macro sensor is not a necessary addition, to begin with.
Macro
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Then again, if you like to play around with macro cameras, this one is strictly average.
Normal Images
With good lighting, the primary camera images look natural, sharp, and have good contrast in them.
Normal
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Also, I found its dynamic range to be better than the Infinix Hot 9 Play which I had used previously.
Portrait Images
Portrait
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In fact, I found the portraits on the Redmi 9C to be better than the Hot 9 Play in edge detection and exposure in subjects.
Selfie Images
Redmi 9C’s front houses a 5MP selfie camera. Like with the back cameras, the selfie camera also works well in good lighting.
Selfie
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Edge detection in portrait selfies is not that good but serves the purpose nonetheless.
Videos
About videos, being a budget device, you are limited with the 1080p 30fps option and the video quality is okay enough for casual usage.
Security, Audio
Rear-mounted fingerprint sensor
3.5mm headphone jack, single bottom-firing speaker
Getting to extras, as I said in the beginning, you get a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor that works well. Surprisingly, the AI face unlocking works well too even in low light conditions, although it takes 2-3 seconds to register and unlock.
On a different note, the audio from this device is okay for gaming and video streaming, but the same cannot be said for listening to music as the audio is not that balanced and pleasing. Having said that, the audio is good enough for making calls.
Battery
5000mAh battery with 10W charging (micro USB)
I am fond of the battery life of Redmi 9C too. With a low-power CPU and an HD display, I got about one and a half days of endurance with my usage consisting of a lot of social media use, streaming, and light gaming. However, the phone will take a good 3 hour time to fully charge with its 10 Watt charger which can be a pain sometimes.
Conclusion
The Redmi 9C is a good budget option in my opinion—a verdict I’ve reached after weeks of testing for this review. Considering its budget nature, it gives everything in moderation, a good enough display, a design that you can barely complain about, an enduring battery, and good cameras for casual usage. I would advise you to go for the 3GB RAM variant to ensure good performance in the long-run too!
So today I have got the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition) with me in for review, which was launched like a month ago. Samsung says it’s the company’s flagship phone for the fans. From the top of the line hardware to flagship features like the IP rating and wireless charging, the S20 FE has it all—although there are definitely some compromises to keep the price in check.
Regardless, when it was initially announced, I thought it would be more like a lite version of the S20 series, similar to last year’s S10 Lite. But, it’s not. As a matter of fact, Samsung says the main reason for the introduction of the S20 FE was to create a cheaper flagship for people not willing to spend over a thousand dollars amidst the current economic downturn because of Covid 19, which is something I really appreciate. Keeping the appreciation aside, does this cheaper Samsung flagship keep up with the “Fan Edition” tag? Let’s dig deeper to find out in this review of the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition)!
Alright, let’s address the elephant in the room first. Yes, plastic backs on flagship phones are a thing now, all thanks to Samsung. It started with the Galaxy Note 20 and then got handed over to the S20 FE. It might sound like I am complaining, but trust me I’m not! Certainly, when you hear plastic you assume the device to feel flimsy and cheap. But this one’s nothing of that sort. In fact, it has a very good feel and the right kind of heft.
Also, what makes me like this design, even more, is that it does not register scratches or fingerprint smudges as easily as glass backs do. I’ve used this phone for more than a month without a cover and it still looks good as new. But, I do encourage you to get a back cover or a skin since plastic might get scratched or washed out over time.
Similarly, the front of it only has the Gorilla Glass 3 protection, which isn’t as scratch and drop resistant as the latest Gorilla Glass Victus or the Gorilla Glass 6 we’ve seen on Samsung’s recent flagship phones. So, if you are one of the careless ones like me, you’d better get a good screen protector. The frames are, however, made of aluminum just like the S20+.
Plus, I think Samsung has finally got the color availability right. The phone is available in multiple color options, which isn’t something new for them. But this time, Samsung is making all these colors available in the majority of the markets.
Display
6.5-inches FHD+ Super AMOLED panel (flat)
Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection
120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate
Moving on to the display, it is a classic Samsung Super AMOLED panel, so no doubt it’s one of the best you smartphone screen you could lay your eyes on. Still, it doesn’t have a sharper QHD resolution like the S20+, but honestly, I’ve never practically turned that option on in any of the Samsung flagships I’ve ever used.
Left: S20 FE | Right: S20+
The important thing about this display is it refreshes at 120Hz which makes for a super smooth experience. I think this feature alone has made the $1000 Galaxy Note 20 look pale and unjustifiably priced in comparison. The bezels on the other hand are slightly pronounced as opposed to what we usually see on flagship offerings from Samsung. Likewise, the gentle curves are gone too and you get this super flat display, which I am okay with actually!
The issue with S20 FE’s display
However, there are some underlying issues at times with the S20 FE’s display. For starters, scrolling would be jittery all of a sudden and I even experienced some ghost touches. I turned to the community to check if others were going through the same thing and turns out this was the issue faced by many others too.
Samsung, in its October update, did fix the issue to some extent but it is not completely gone. In my opinion, this looks more like a software issue rather than hardware and I hope Samsung fixes it ASAP.
Optical in-display fingerprint sensor
On a different note, this display houses an in-display fingerprint sensor—not the ultrasonic kind like in the company’s premium “S” and “Note” series of phones, but the standard optical one. Nonetheless, it works flawlessly. I was a little worried that it would be slower just like the ones in Samsung’s A-series phones, but it’s not like that at all.
The brightness of this display is also very good, not as good as the Note 20 Ultra but will get you through even in a sunny environment. The tiny punch hole up top is non-obtrusive and its diameter is in fact smaller than the one on the Note 20 Ultra.
Performance
Two variants: 4G (Global, including Nepal), 5G (US, S. Korea)
4G: Octa-core Samsung Exynos 990 SoC (7nm+)
6/8GB LPDDR5 RAM with upto 256GB UFS 3.1 storage (expandable)
Anyway, let me talk about the most criticized feature of the S20 FE, which is the Exynos 990 chipset. Really makes me wonder: why did Samsung include the most criticized feature of the Galaxy S20 and the Note 20 Ultra on a device that is meant for the FANS?
Not that the Exynos 990 is a bad chipset or anything, it’s still a powerful chipset but it certainly is not in the same league with its direct Snapdragon counterpart. And since I am also using the OnePlus 8T right now, which retails at the same price, it’s not difficult to point which one’s better in terms of sheer performance. Moreover, the Exynos 990 is not only inferior to the Snapdragon 865 when it comes to performance, but it is more battery hungry and toastier too.
Anyways, all the negativity aside, Samsung’s upcoming Exynos 1080, 2100 are the real deal. If the early leaks are to be believed, these silicons can reportedly outperform the next-gen SoCs from Qualcomm, namely the Snapdragon 875. In terms of memory, the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE has DDR5 RAM and UFS 3.0 storage. The RAM options are either 6 or 8GB, whereas storage is either 128 or 256GB.
Moving on, with my real-life usage, the experience on this phone has been buttery smooth. There’s not a hint of lag, apps open fast, and multitasking is a breeze. But again, I am using the Oneplus 8T right now, and it definitely feels more optimized and faster than the FE.
Gaming
Similarly, gaming, especially those high demanding titles, are inferior to that of the OnePlus 8T. For instance, the max you can go to PUBG is smooth graphics and extreme frame rates with a little bit of choppiness here and there. With the Oneplus 8T, there’s an exclusive 90 fps mode as well, which is much smoother.
About the heating, I’ve noticed that the S20 FE does not heat up easily like the S20+ which is something I really appreciate because shooting 4K videos and heavy gaming on the S20+ would result in the phone getting considerably warm after a while. So, Samsung has improved the thermals on the FE, which is great.
Software
One UI 2.5 on top of Android 10
Talking about the software, the phone runs on Android 10 with One UI 2.5 out-of-the-box. It also includes the support for Samsung DeX, which I particularly don’t find that useful, but some of you might. However, a little sad news is that the S20 FE is not up for One UI 3.0 Beta testing as other S20 Flagships yet, although it is sure to receive Android 11 any day now.
Samsung has also promised to give 3 years of OS upgrade on the S20 FE. Its follow up on monthly security updates has also been really good until now. As of now, my phone runs on October’s security patch and I should be receiving the November patch anytime soon.
Cameras
Triple-cameras at the back
(12MP primary, 12MP ultrawide, 8MP telephoto)
32MP front-facing camera inside the punch-hole cutout
Cameras
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Back Cameras
Front Camera
S20 Fan Edition features the same 12MP primary and ultrawide angle lens as the S20+, followed by a new 8MP Telephoto lens capable of 3x optical zoom. As expected, this phone has stellar camera capabilities for photos, and even in regards to videos, you can go upto 4k 60fps with OIS—both from the front and back cameras without any compromises on the quality as compared to the S20+.
Normal Images
Normal
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FE
S20+
FE
S20+
In fact, in many cases, the S20+ overcompensates the colors while the FE tones it down and makes the image more natural.
(similar results)
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FE
S20+
FE
S20+
Details, dynamic range, and everything else looks the same in both the phones, so I could not be happier with the cameras on the S20 FE.
Portrait Images
S20 FE does not shoot portraits with the Telephoto lens like the S20+ but rather uses the primary lens. The edge detection is slightly flawed as you can see in these pictures, but overall they are not bad.
Portrait
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FE
S20+
FE
S20+
FE
S20+
FE
S20+
Although, I would go for the portraits of the S20+ as the subjects look more pronounced in it and the depth looks more natural.
Telephoto Images
3x Zoom
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FE
S20+
The 8MP Telephoto zoom lens, however, gives you slightly better results than the S20+ with its 3x Optical zoom capability as opposed to the 3X hybrid zoom on the S20+.
Ultrawide Images
The ultra-wide-angle images equally impress with outstanding colors and details.
Wideangle
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FE
S20+
FE
S20+
FE
S20+
As you can see from this comparison, both the S20+ and FE are nearly identical.
Nighttime Images
Even the night time shots from the FE are similar to the S20+ in both normal and night mode.
Nighttime
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FE - Normal Nighttime
S20+ Normal Nighttime
FE - Normal Nighttime
S20+ Normal Nighttime
FE - Night Mode
S20+ Night Mode
FE - Night Mode
S20+ Night Mode
But, nighttime images in ultra-wide mode are riddled with grains although you can toggle to night mode to compensate for the noise and exposure management to some extent.
Wideangle Nighttime
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FE - Wideangle Normal Nighttime
S20+ Wideangle Normal Nighttime
FE - Wideangle Normal Nighttime
S20+ Wideangle Normal Nighttime
FE - Wideangle Nightmode
S20+ Wideangle Nightmode
FE - Wideangle Nightmode
S20+ Wideangle Nightmode
Also, while shooting in night mode, the camera takes over 5 sec to process the image, which I think Samsung needs to improve upon.
Videos
About the videos, as mentioned earlier, you can record upto 4k 60fps with full Optical image stabilization from the main lens. And since it doesn’t have a 64MP telephoto lens as the S20+, there is no 8k shooting with the FE.
You can shoot stabilized videos in the Ultra-wide angle mode too but, like the S20+, there’s no 60fps mode here. Likewise, the slow-mo and super slow-mo video modes are always fun to play around with.
Selfie Images
During my review, the selfie camera of the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, unfortunately, didn’t meet my expectation. It’s a 32MP shooter as opposed to the 10MP one on the S20+.
Selfie
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FE
S20+
FE
S20+
FE
S20+
But even with the higher resolution, it’s not as good as its flagship sibling which is clearly noticed in these pictures here. To make matters clearer, the S20 FE’s selfies are a kind of Galaxy A71-ish rather than a flagship level.
Overall, though, I am really satisfied with the cameras of the S20 FE. Samsung’s decision to not include a gimmicky macro or depth camera is spot on, unlike its closest competitors the Oneplus 8T—and frankly should be a lesson to all the smartphone manufacturers who purposefully sham their high-end devices with unworthy image sensors.
Battery
4500mAh battery with 25W wired charging
Only a 15W charger provided inside the box
15W wireless and 4.5W reverse wireless charging
In regards to the battery life, the S20 FE has sort of met my expectations. I used this phone with the 120Hz refresh rate and the always-on display turned ON, and with that, I strictly got a days’ battery life. Now, I am someone who is into watching Netflix and Amazon Prime Video at almost every chance I get. And with all the social media, texting, clicking pictures and videos that I do all day, I would have to charge the phone as I reach home at around 8 PM.
Talking about charging, you don’t get a faster 25W charger inside the box like the S20+ although it does support it. Obviously, Samsung had to make some compromises to achieve the lower price, such as skimping on accessories like chargers and earphones inside the box.
But unlike Apple, Samsung has been generous enough to include a 15-watt fast charger inside the box, which takes around an hour and a half to get the phone completely juiced up. So, if slow charging frustrates you as it does to me, you’re gonna have to cash-in around $30 dollars and get a genuine 25-watt fast charger.
Extras
As for other things, the Galaxy S20 FE has 15W wireless charging support, IP68 rating, and stereo speakers to give you a more flagship experience. But hold on, mark that these speakers are not true stereo as the earpiece serves as a secondary channel, but they do an amazing job. It produces balanced and rich output and there is Dolby Atmos support like the S20+.
Conclusion
So, that was all about my experience with the Galaxy S20 FE. Do I recommend this phone? Definitely! It is one of the best value flagships at the moment and If you are in the market for a new smartphone right now, and don’t want to cash in top dollars, the S20 FE would be an ideal choice.
In fact, it sits above the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro and the OnePlus 8T in my rank for the best value flagship phone right now. Moreover, it’s not even a debate, or a contest if your region ships the Snapdragon variant for the phone.
And with Samsung’s brand recognition and unmatched distribution and availability, I think this phone will definitely take some of the market shares of the OnePlus 8T. Plus, Samsung has already confirmed that it’s going to be releasing the Fan Edition version of the S series every year. So, it’s going to be an interesting battle in the coming days too.
Watch our video review of the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE.
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Review: Pros & Cons
Pros:
Terrific value for money—an easy recommendation
Impressively well-built for a phone with a plastic back
Realme launched its first-ever smartwatch back in May and it has been with me for more time than I can remember—most likely around 3 months; yeah, that adds up. So, in this review, I will be sharing with you my experience with the Realme Watch and what I think Realme (almost desperately) needs to improve in its next-generation smartwatches. Let’s begin!
Realme Watch Specifications:
Body: 1.44W x 0.46H x 10.08L-inches, 31grams (w/ strap)
Battery Endurance: 7 hours (heart rate function enabled), up to 9 hours (heart rate disabled)
Charging Time: 2.5 hours (USB magnetic charging)
Price in Nepal: Rs. 7,799
Realme Watch Review:
Design & Build
Polycarbonate body with silicon strap
IP68 dust/water resistance
In all honesty, the first thing I noticed about this watch is just how much it’s inspired by the Apple Watch in terms of its looks—but then again, that’s not necessarily a bad thing I guess. Personally, I like how lightweight it is. So much so that it does not even feel like you are wearing anything on your wrists. I’m someone who doesn’t like wearing accessories to bed, so the Realme Watch has really been handy for me to track my sleep. But that in no way covers up for the fact that it feels a little plasticky and cheap.
While we’re on the topic of design, I skipped on using any sort of screen protector here—a decision I now regret a little bit because as you can clearly see, there is quite a bit of scratch in my unit of the Realme Watch. I do admit the careless usage is on my part but had the company gone with the latest generation of Gorilla Glass instead of the third generation, I guess my watch would have been in much better condition.
Comfortable strap
Anyways, I have liked the buckle implementation of the strap that it has. Looks clean and seamless—not as much as the new “Solo Loop” on the new Apple Watch, but still. Once you get used to it, it becomes really easy to put it on or to take it off. Why I am mentioning this is because I think in the long-run comfort and ease of use, it plays a huge role and the Realme Watch has not disappointed me in that regard.
I didn’t have to take off the Watch as much as I have in other smartwatches that I’ve used throughout the years while washing hands or even in instances of rainfall as this one is IP68 rated. However, note that you cannot take it to the shower with you. And because this watch cannot track swimming, it’s no use taking it in the pool with you, so there’s that! That’s a little disappointing seeing how relatively cheaper fitness bands like Mi Band 4, Mi Band 5 can track pool swimming.
Display
1.4-inches TFT LCD panel
Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection
320 x 320 pixels, 380 nits of brightness
Speaking of the display, here you get a 1.4-inches TFT LCD screen with 320 by 320 pixels, 380 nits of peak brightness, and 323 PPI pixel density. Even on paper, you can tell that’s nothing out of the ordinary and my extensive usage proved the exact same.
Disappointingly, despite receiving multiple updates, the touch response is still unsatisfying. Also, for all the time I used the Realme Watch, I always wished for it to be just a little brighter as I truly struggled with visibility in sunny outdoor conditions.
Fitness, Health Tracking
24-hour real-time heart rate
Blood oxygen level (SpO2) monitoring
14 sports modes (including yoga, cricket)
No women’s health tracking
It does track basic exercises like walking, running and it even helps you meditate. You have a bunch of options for tracking sports too. But, since it doesn’t support automatic workout detection, all the tracking needs to be manually triggered on the Watch. For instance, if you go for a run, you need to first select the “Running” option, unlike other expensive smartwatches that detect workouts automatically.
Talking about expensive smartwatches, I compared it with Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 3 in regards to their heart rate sensors, blood oxygen monitoring, step counter, and basically everything else as well. Here, during my review period, the Realme Watch gave more or less similar results always in both heart rate and Blood Oxygen monitoring. But, I found the step counting to be slightly overcompensated on the Realme Watch though.
You can check all the aforementioned health-related data in the Watch itself but it will only show you a day’s stats at a time. For a precise and comprehensive reading, the watch must be connected to the Realme Link app, which by the way is only available on Google Play Store. Initially, Realme did say that its iOS version is under development, but as of now, the app is still not available on the App Store which is kinda disappointing.
Anyways, besides all the health stats, you can do quite a lot of things with the app like, changing watch faces although I only found a handful of good options that I like. So, I hope Realme gives us more watch face options through an update pretty soon.
Notification, Performance, & UI
Non-actionable app notifications
Software is inconsistent and buggy
Likewise, you can also get notifications on calls and messages, although you cannot pick calls because of the lack of a microphone, and neither can you reply to messages. I also found the vibration alerts on getting notifications to be strictly average. But, it is adequate enough to actually make you aware of the notification, even if you are riding a bike.
Overall, the app itself is pretty basic and simple and it’s really easy to work around it, while the same goes for the Watch itself as well. There’s a golden-accented button on the right which doubles as a back and power button.
Now about the performance, because this watch runs on an unspecified (but most definitely an under-powered) MediaTek chipset, the animations are pretty basic and the UI/UX feels like a bare minimum. Due to this, the Realme Watch does not feel slow or anything like that.
On a different note, since this is Realme’s first-ever smartwatch, I found a lot of software related issues like how the Find My Phone option wouldn’t work 100% of the time and the watch would get disconnected with the phone every now and then. This would have me miss my call and message notifications which is really counter-productive. As a result, I’ve had to reconnect the watch time and again which was quite a hassle.
Battery
160mAh cell (wireless magnetic charging)
Getting to the battery life, its 160mAh cell has yielded promising endurance on my use. On average, it lasted me for about an entire week on a single charge even with automatic heart-rate monitoring every 5 minutes turned on. Charging this thing is quite easy as well since all you need to do is attach it with the 2-pin magnetic charger. It takes around 2.5 hours to fully juice up the battery of the Realme Watch.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I think the Realme Watch is basically a fitness band with a smartwatch design. And as I said earlier, because it is a first-generation product from the company, there is still some software related issue that Realme needs to work on.
So, should I recommend it for the price it asks? Well, even though it nails the basics of a smartwatch, I think it’s a bit overpriced. Yes, it’s technically just a $50 smartwatch, so you might be wondering why I am complaining. But the thing is, if you browse AliExpress or Gearbest, you will find so many other smartwatches similar to the Realme Watch in terms of functionality and quality, and yet, they cost half the price of what Realme is charging. Also, if you can manage to squeeze in a little more budget, the Mobvoi TicWatch GTX that retail at around Rs. 9,999 is a slightly better option.
If you are thinking of buying any new networking gear, you would be thrilled to find out that there is a new player in the town. Netgear, a company that specializes in networking hardware, is now officially available in Nepal. In this post, we will be taking a look at all the Netgear products that are available in Nepal along with their specs, price, and authorized distributor.
Netgear: A Brand Overview
Netgear is a company based in San Jose, California. The company was founded back in 1996 and is mainly known for its networking solutions. However, the company has its presence in smart home security, network storage, and mobile broadband as well. Netgear designs products for home, business, and even service providers.
The majority of the company’s products are based on technologies like WiFi, LTE, Ethernet, and powerline. Netgear’s portfolio of products includes both wireless and wired devices that enable networking, broadband access, and network connectivity.
Netgear Products Official Price in Nepal (Summary)
SN
Products
MRP
SP
Warranty
Switches
1.
GSG608
Rs. 7,750
Rs. 4,200
3 Years
2.
GS108PP
Rs. 28,050
Rs. 15,100
Lifetime
3.
GS116PP
Rs. 43,200
Rs. 28,200
Lifetime
4.
GS316
Rs. 13,400
Rs. 9,800
3 Years
5.
GS324
Rs. 19,200
Rs. 16,700
3 Years
6.
GS108PE
Rs. 22,400
Rs. 9,800
Lifetime
7.
GS308T
Rs. 10,150
Rs. 9,200
Lifetime
Router and Access Points
1.
Orbi AC1200 WiFi System
Rs. 35,200
Rs. 24,900
1 year
2.
Orbi AC3000 WiFi System
Rs. 60,800
Rs. 49,400
1 year
3.
Nighthawk Mesh WiFi 6 System
Rs. 65,000
Rs. 51,000
1 year
4.
AC1750 Dual-Band WiFi Router
Rs. 15,850
Rs. 9,900
1 year
5.
Nighthawk AC2300 MU-MIMO Wave 2 Router
Rs. 27,200
Rs. 19,800
1 year
6.
AC1200 Dual Band WiFi USB 3.0 Adapter
Rs. 4,850
Rs. 4,400
2 years
Netgear ReadyNAS
1.
ReadyNAS RN212
Rs. 64,000
Rs. 40,500
3 years
2.
ReadyNAS RN214
Rs. 80,000
Rs. 54,500
3 Years
Netgear Switches and Extenders Price in Nepal
GSG608 Gigabit Ethernet Switch (8-bit)
GS600 series Gigabit Ethernet Switches support full-duplex standard and they can reach up to 2000 Mbps on each of the ports. Each port determines the appropriate speed and full/half-duplex mode.
Network Latency:
100 to 100 Mbps: 20 µ (Max)
1000 to 1000 Mbps: 10 µ (Max)
Packet Buffer Memory: 1 Mb
MAC address database: 4,000
Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF): 87,600 hours (~ 10 years)
MRP: Rs. 7,750
GS108PP / GS116PP PoE+ Switches
GS108PP and GS116PP switches come with 8 and 16 Gigabit copper ports respectively. Each port can provide up to 30W to any device. They come with rack-mount and wall-mount kits to make use of their small form factor. The fanless design makes sure the operation does not produce any noise.
GS108PP Specs:
Dimensions: 236W x 102D x 27H-mm; 0.6kg
Network Ports: 8 PoE+ (123W PoE Budget)
Bandwidth: 16 Gbps
Buffer Size: 192KB
Max MAC entries: 4K
Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF): 2,752,476 hours
Hardware Replacement Warranty: TRULY LIFETIME
MRP: Rs. 28,050
GS116PP Specs:
Dimensions: 286W x 102D x 27H-mm; 0.88kg
Network Ports: 16 (183W PoE Budget)
Bandwidth: 32 Gbps
Buffer Size: 1MB
Max Mac entries: 4K
Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF): 2,088,514 hours
Hardware Replacement Warranty: TRULY LIFETIME
MRP: Rs. 43,200
GS316 / GS324 Gigabit Ethernet Unmanaged Switches
Netgear 300 Series consists of plug-and-play switches for home and small office. These switches sport a rugged design for durability. GS316 and GS324 are wall-mountable and they have a fanless design for silent operation.
GS108PE supports fundamental network features including VLAN, QoS, and IGMP Snooping for better optimization. The setup is easy as it has plug-and-play connectivity.
GS108PE Specs:
Dimensions: 158W x 101D x 29H-mm; 0.54kg
Network Ports: 8 Gigabit ports (4 55W PoE Budget)
Bandwidth: 16 Gbps
Buffer Size: 192 KB
Max MAC entries: 4K
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF): 1,242,394 hours
Hardware Replacement Warranty: TRULY LIFETIME
MRP: Rs. 22,400
GS308T Gigabit Ethernet Switch
Netgear Smart Managed Pro S350 series switches including the GS308T are designed for converged networks where a single platform carries voice, video, and other data. GS308T comes with advanced features such as Access Control Lists (ACLs), Quality of Service (QoS), Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) for high-speed and secured networks.
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF): 2,957,592 hours (~337 years)
Hardware Replacement Warranty: TRULY LIFETIME
MRP: Rs. 10,150
Netgear AC1200 WiFi Range Extender
Netgear claims that the AC1200 is the world’s smallest wall-plug extender. It supports dual-band WiFi up to 1200Mbps.
AC1200 Specs:
Dimensions: 55.17 x 67.17 x 39mm; 130g
Standards:
IEEE 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz
IEEE 802.11 a/n/ac 5GHz
1 x 10/100Mbps Ethernet port with auto-sensing technology
Security: WPA/WPA2-PSK
MRP: Rs. 4,850
Netgear ReadyNAS Price in Nepal
ReadyNAS 210 Series (RN212/RN214)
Netgear ReadyNAS 210 series consists of two high-performance Network Attached Storage with transcoding capability of FHD 1080p. Similarly, RN212 and RN214 offer five layers of protection for users’ data. The ReadyCLOUD portal-based user interface and app are available on PC, Mac, smartphones, and tablets.
RN212 Specs:
Dimensions: 220 x 101 x 142; 2.03kg
CPU: Quad-core 1.4GHz ARM Cortex A15
Memory: 2GB
Drive Bays: 2
Drive Types: SATA/SSD 2.5″ or 3.5″
Ports: 1x eSATA, 2x Gigabit LAN Ports, 3x USB 3.0 ports
Max Capacity: 12TB
MRP: Rs. 64,000
RN214 Specs:
Dimension: 223 x 134 x 205; 4.02kg
CPU: Quad-core 1.4GHz ARM Cortex A15
Memory: 2GB
Drive Bays: 4
Drive Types: SATA/SSD 2.5″ or 3.5″
Ports: 1x eSATA, 2x Gigabit LAN Ports, 3x USB 3.0 ports
Max Capacity: 24TB
MRP: Rs. 80,000
Netgear Routers and Access Points Price in Nepal
Orbi Whole Home AC1200 WiFi System Router (Router + 2 Extenders)
The Orbi Mesh WiFi system consists of an Orbi WiFi Router and two satellite extenders that offer a combined speed of up to 1.2Gbps over an area of up to 4,500 sq ft. Users can manage the kid’s screen time using Circle Smart Parental Controls. Netgear Armor protects the network against potential internet threats.
Orbi AC1200 Specs:
Dimension:
Router: 4.1 x 4.1 x 2.7-inches; 0.58lb
Extenders: 4.1 x 4.1x 2.7-inches;0.54lb
Simultaneous Dual-band WiFi:
Radio 1: IEEE 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz- 256 – QAM support
Radio 2: IEEE 802.11a/n/ac 5GHz- 256 – QAM support
Tx/Rx: 2×2 (2.4GHz) + 2×2 (5GHz)
Processor: Quad-core 710MHz
Memory (Router): 256MB Flash and 512MB RAM
Antenna: 2 internal antennas each
Ports: 2x 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet ports (1 WAN and 1 LAN)
Security: Netgear Armor
Voice Control: Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant
MRP: Rs. 35,200
Orbi Whole Home AC3000 Tri-band WiFi System
Orbi Whole Home AC3000 WiFi system consists of an Orbi WiFi Router and Satellite that offer coverage of up to 5,000 sq ft. With dedicated WiFi backhaul, Netgear claims better 4K HD streaming and gaming even with more devices. Users can also make use of the Circle and Orbi app to easily manage their WiFI.
Orbi AC3000 Specs:
Dimension: 6.7 x 4.1 x 2.7-inches; 1.96lb
Simultaneous Tri-band WiFi:
Radio1: IEEE 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz- 256QAM support
Radio2: IEEE 802.11a/n/ac 5GHz- 256QAM support
Radio3: IEEE 802.11a/n/ac 5GHz- 256QAM support
Memory (Router): 4GB Flash and 512MB RAM
Antenna (Router and Satellite): 6 internal antennas with amplifiers each
Ports:
Orbi Router: 4xGigabit Ethernet ports (1 WAN & 3x LAN), 1x USB 2.0
Satellite: 4xGigabit Ethernet LAN ports, 1x USB 2.0
Nighthawk Mesh WiFi 6 system can offer a combined speed of up to 1.8Gbps over an area of up to 4,500 sq ft. Users can even expand the coverage further. The WiFi 6 boasts up to four times the performance of AC WiFI. It is protected by Nighthawk Armor and users can manage the network via the Nighthawk app.
Nighthawk Mesh Wifi 6 System Specs:
Dimension (Router and Satellite): 4.8 x 4.8 x 2.5-inches each; 0.63lb each
Simultaneous Dual-band WiFi:
Radio 1: IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ax 2.4GHz- 1024 – QAM support
Radio 2: IEEE 802.11a/n/ac/ax 5GHz- 1024 – QAM support
Tx/Rx: 2×2 (2.4GHz) + 2×2 (5GHz)
Memory (Router and Satellite): 128MB Flash and 256MB RAM
Antenna: 4 internal antennas each
Ports: Router: 2x WAN 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet port (1 WAN & 1 LAN) Satellite: 1x 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet port each
MRP: Rs. 65,000
Netgear AC1750 Smart Dual Band Gigabit WiFi Router
It is a smart WiFi router with can coverage of up to 1750 sq ft. At a time, it can provide a connection to up to 25 devices. The router can be set up, configured, and updated using the Nighthawk app.
Netgear AC1750 Specs:
Dimension: 9.27 x 5.94 x 2.14-inches; 377g
Simultaneous Dual-band WiFi:
Radio 1: IEEE 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz
Radio 2: IEEE 802.11a/n/ac 5GHz
Tx/Rx: 2×2 (2.4GHz) + 4×4 (5GHz)
Processor: Quad-core 710MHz
Memory: 128MB NAND Flash and 128MB DDR3 RAM
Ports: 5x 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Ports (1WAN + 4LAN) with auto-sensing technology, 1x USB 2.0
MRP: Rs. 15,850
Netgear Nighthawk AC2300 MU-MIMO Wave 2 Router
This router is designed with gaming and streaming mobile devices in mind. It supports MU-MIMO for simultaneous streaming. It comes with Netgear Armor protection. Users can speed up to 2.3Gbps (1625 + 600 Mbps).
Netgear AC2300 Specs:
Dimension: 11.22 x 7.26 x 1.97-inches; 1.65lbs
Simultaneous Dual-band WiFi:
Radio 1: IEEE 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz
Radio 2: IEEE 802.11a/n/ac 5GHz- 1024 QAM support
Processor: Dual-core 1GHz
Memory (Router): 128MB Flash and 256MB RAM
Ports: 5x 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Ports (1WAN + 4LAN), 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0
Antennas: 3 (detachable)
MRP: Rs. 27,200
Netgear AC1200 Dual Band WiFi USB 3.0 Adapter
It comes with a USB 3.0 port to connect your computer or laptop to an 11ac network. It offers a speed of up to 300/867Mbps. The high-gain antenna is adjustable.
AC1200 Dual Band WiFi USB 3.0 Adapter Specs:
Dimension:
Adapter: 3.66 x 1.24 x 0.57-inches; 28g
Dock: 2.49 x 1.76x 1.39-inches; 90g
Simultaneous Dual-band WiFi:
Radio 1: IEEE 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz
Radio 2: IEEE 802.11a/n/ac 5GHz
MRP: Rs. 4,850
Netgear Authorized Distributor in Nepal
The authorized distributor of Netgear products in Nepal is Infocom Solutions Private Limited. It is a subsidiary of the ICTC Group of Companies. As of now, the company has made available switches, routers, Access Points, and Network Attached Storage (NAS) in the Nepali market.
MSI regularly churns out great laptops. Even their “mid-range or budget” gaming laptops are far ahead of their competitors. Thus, I find it quite pleasing to use and review an MSI laptop. Last time out, we had reviewed the GP65 Leopard. And this time around, we bring to you the review of MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS with us.
This laptop is a follow-up to the GE65, which was a beast of a laptop. Performance-wise it was superb. However, its subpar battery life and sound system left many people disappointed. Nonetheless, the GE66 has a lot to live up to.
And with my experience with this laptop, I won’t shy away from saying that this laptop does stake a claim to be one of the best gaming laptops of the year. However, there is no such thing as a perfect laptop and the same goes for this one too. So, let’s dive into our review of the MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS to find out its good’s and the bad’s.
Configuration Options
People who are planning on buying the GE66 are really spoilt for choices. Basically, there are 3 different versions of this laptop. There’s the 10SF with RTX 2070, 10SFS with RTX 2070 Super, and finally the top-end 10GS with RTX 2080 Super Max-Q. And depending on the model you get, the screen options are FHD; 144Hz, 240Hz, 300Hz, or UHD with 60Hz refresh rate.
Out here in Nepal, the one available in the market is 10SFS. Our review unit is equipped with an Intel Core i9-10980HK processor, an FHD 240Hz panel, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super, 16GB DDR4 2666Mhz RAM, and 1TB SSD. And it is priced at Rs. 370,000. By the way, there are 2 DIMM slots and you can increase the RAM to up to 64GB.
Another option that is available in Nepal only differs in the processor and the storage available. The other one has a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and 2TB SSD. And it too is priced at Rs. 370,000. Finally, the cheapest option with regards to the GE66 comes with 10th Gen Intel Core i7, RTX 2070 1TB SSD, and a 240Hz panel. No 300Hz option in Nepal. Anyway, depending upon your preference you can go for either of the three.
Design & Build
With that out of the way, let’s get into the design of the GE66. It has a complete design overhaul from its predecessor the GE65. Let’s put it this way, it is subtle, yet it gives you a gaming vibe.
At the first glance, the GE66 Raider looks similar to the GT76 Titan. The red stripes from the GE65 are completely gone. It now looks a bit subdued. It has a gray aluminum lid with only the dragon sigil near the top. Furthermore, the logo’s color is also toned down and it perfectly blends in with the granite gray lid. However, the subtlety is somewhat reduced by the angle near the hinges. But hey, I’m not complaining cause it does add some modern looks to the design.
Thankfully, MSI has removed the Raider moniker from the rear edge. It now sports various I/O ports and that’s a more sensible choice. The ports on the rear edge include a power port, HDMI, ethernet port, USB-Type C port, and a mini DisplayPort. And on either side of the ports are a couple of air vents.
The lid was subtle but the front edge is anything but subtle. The front lip is occupied by a huge glass prism/lightbar that MSI calls Aurora. It offers 16.7 million colors, customizable through the SteelSeries Engine app and it syncs with the per-key lighting of the keyboard. You can turn the lights on when you want to flex your laptop around other gamers or choose to completely turn it off in an office environment.
The lighting is great and all but the lightbar just runs a tiny bit off the length of the front edge. I found it a bit problematic as I felt the sting of the overrun edges, quite a few times. The interior is made up of onyx-colored aluminum. It feels smooth and does not attract any smudges. There’s enough room to rest your palms and the keyboard lies a tad bit below the level of the touchpad.
Thick bezels
Its beautiful display is surrounded by thin bezels on either side, however, the top and the bottom are still quite thick.
Ports
1 of 2
In addition to the ports on the rear edge, there are three additional USB Type-A ports, an SDXC card reader, a headphone jack, and a USB Type-C port. There’s a glaring omission of Thunderbolt 3, however, to appease gamers, the unit does have Killer wired and wireless chipsets for Gigabit Ethernet connection. Hey, you win some you lose some, right? By the way, there’s also a status LED that shows whether the laptop is charging or not on the left-hand side.
The laptop measures 14.1 x 10.5 x 0.9 inches and weighs around 2.3 kilos. And it’s pretty much standard these days. However, you can get smaller 15-inch laptops these days such as the GS66 Stealth. But the extra thickness in the GE66 does come in handy as it allows the laptop to pack a larger cooling grill. You’ll find one on both sides and in addition to that, there are six heat sinks and two fans to cool the device. We will talk more about the cooling capabilities a bit later.
On the whole, the design is sort of a perfect blend between a gaming laptop and a work laptop. Furthermore, there’s little to no flex on either the lid or the keyboard, and the build material suggests that the laptop is a very robust one.
Display
The panel on this one is the same as that of the GE66. It too has a panel with a 240Hz refresh rate. The IPS level panel has great viewing angles and reproduces great color both indoors as well as outdoors. The FHD display gives little to complain about because you can observe great details on anything that you are viewing. With such fine details on the screen, you’ll find playing games such as The Witcher 3 a lot more eye-pleasing.
The display is fairly color accurate. It covers about 100% sRGB color gamut and 72% AdobeRGB. And these days it is the standard. Furthermore, due to the MSI True Color software, you’ll find that its grayscale and colors lie in the ideal range. Overall, I’d label it as a good display for content creation. However, you can always get a more color-accurate display such as the Predator or Razer Blade.
As I had mentioned earlier, my test unit has a 240Hz panel and for most gamers out there, this should suffice. A 300Hz variant is also available in the market(not in Nepal though), however, unless you are into ultra-competitive esports and play low impact games, there’s simply no need for you to buy that one.
For others, the 240Hz is more than enough. You get to enjoy the vibrant colors and at the same time get great fps on your games unless you are playing a AAA title on max settings that are.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The SteelSeries keyboard is tailored for gamers, however, it did bring out mixed feelings in me. It’s clicky, has deep travels, and overall provides a great typing experience. However, there are some key combinations such as Insert+delete and the cramped up function and control key that you’ll have to get used to.
There’s no Numpad and the windows key makes a comeback in the GE66. The GE65 did not have one to prevent gamers from accidentally pressing them while in an intense gaming session. Well, it is here now, however, if you don’t need it, you can disable it from the Dragon Center app.
There are some useful shortcuts on the keyboard. You can adjust keyboard lighting through the F10 and F11 buttons, change the color scheme from F9, activate cooler boost from F10, and open up the Dragon Center from F7. For customization of the key colors, you’ll have to go to the SteelSeries Engine app.
As for the touchpad, I’ve no complaints whatsoever. It has a smooth finish and thus it ensures quick inputs. It is sturdy enough and the lack of buttons means that clicks are triggered by pressing the bottom surface.
Dragon Center
The last time I used the MSI Dragon Center was on the GP65 Leopard. And frankly, I was agitated I had to use the app. It kept crashing, had to re-install it a few times just to get it working. It was a mess.
And it’s no different on the MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS one either—as I came to discover during the review. Thankfully, I did not have to re-install the app multiple times, nonetheless, the app remains as buggy as ever. I had to restart the entire system just to change some minor settings.
You will be using the Dragon Center a lot. All the customizations, barring keyboards, and lightbar color have to be done through this app. The buggy nature of this app will certainly get on your nerves. MSI should really do something about the Dragon Center pronto.
Speaker, Camera, and Battery Life
There are 2x 2W speakers on either edge, and the sound they produce is fairly average. Given the laptop’s price, I expected something more but was quite disappointed. You can surely get other laptops with a better audio system at a lower price. Furthermore, the fans on a full blast will completely drown the audio. Thus, there’s still a lot of room for improvement is all I can say.
The addition of a 1080p webcam is a welcome change from the standard 720p that we regularly find. Taken in isolation, you’ll not find it an amazing addition to the laptop, but when compared to the ones on other laptops, it certainly offers a tad bit more.
Most laptops in this category are plagued by bad battery life. But, the 99.9Wh unit on this one blows away the competitors. While web surfing continuously at about 75% brightness, I was able to squeeze around 4 hours 35 minutes. By decreasing the brightness you can certainly get maybe an hour or so more. And that’s really great.
Hardware and Performance
Our review unit of the MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS is equipped with 16gigs of RAM. However, there are two SO-DIMM slots and thus you can increase your RAM to up to 64GB. Similarly, there are two M.2 slots inside, out of which one only one is free. The 1TB SSD is great, but you’ll see that it quickly starts to fill up once you install a handful of AAA titles. So, with a free M.2 slot, you can always install another SSD yourself.
Nonetheless, the 1TB SSD itself gives you nothing to complain for. Its CrystalDiskMark scores indicate that reading or writing is not a problem for this device.
The combination of the 10th Gen Intel Core i9-10980HK and the RTX 2070 Super spells for a power performer. As you’d expect, the GE66 Raider can deal with basic productivity tasks without any trouble. Even with over 15 tabs open on Google Chrome and few word files open, at no point did I notice any lag in performance.
Gaming performance is impressive too. It can run all AAA titles without breaking a sweat at FHD resolution. The RTX 2070 super with 2560 CUDA cores offers better performance than your standard RTX 2070. I did not notice any performance lag over the 1-hour gaming session with battlefield V. I was able to get around 160fps in medium settings, 140 in high, and about 117fps in ultra settings. The laptop did not give way with DXR on either. With DRX on, the stats are like this: 80fps Ultra, 89-90 high, and about 104 in medium settings. Thus, no matter the setting you choose, you are bound to get pretty good fps and also enjoy the magnificent display.
FPS stat in various games
High/Ultra
Medium
Low
Wither 3: Wild Hunt
102
120
155
Battlefield 5 (DXR off)
117
140
160
Battlefield 5 (DXR on)
80
90
104
Apex Legends
143
144
144
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
60 (in all settings)
Warframe
120 (in all settings)
Mind you, I played these games in the extreme performance mode with the cooler booster on, so the fps count may differ depending upon the mode you play in.
Thermals
The MSI GE66 Raider packs in some high-end stuff, and they require a high-end cooling system. As mentioned, previously, it has six heat pipes that are wider than that of its predecessor and its two fans come with 53 blades per fan. Furthermore, it is equipped with Cooler Booster 5.
The cooling system does somewhat of a very good job in my opinion. Touchpad and the palm rest area are void of any heating issues. And I only noticed the heating in the central area of the keyboard after about 1 and a half hours of gaming. Although I have to mention that I was playing games with Cooler Booster on, so that might have come to the aid of the laptop. However, the cooler booster mode does have one drawback. It runs loud. And in this case, loud is an understatement.
The plastic undercarriage remains relatively cool in normal use. Though you will start to feel the heat after using it for a couple of hours. But that’s somewhat expected anyway.
MSI GE66 Raider 10SFS Review: Verdict
All things considered, the MSI GE66 Raider is the perfect follow up to the GE65. The LED lightbar and the 99.9 WHr battery are clearly the selling points for this device. However, the laptop is not just limited to style and battery life, overall the RTX 2070 Super and i9-10980HK deliver solid performance and give users no room for complaints.
However, the heavy fan noise, poor speaker, and the ever buggy Dragon Center leave you asking for a tad bit more. Nonetheless, I’d still rate the MSI GE66 Raider as one of the best performing laptops of 2020.
Nokia phones, especially the budget and mid-range ones, share this cohesiveness in terms of their design, relative performance, and overall user experience. Maybe that’s for the better, or worse: it’s not up to me to say. Anyway, the new Nokia 2.4 doesn’t really evoke a sense of innovation as the Finnish company didn’t bother to bring any changes from its predecessor—I’m talking about the design, of course. So, how does this “iterative upgrade” of a phone perform? Allow me to discuss more in this review of the Nokia 2.4.
Nokia 2.4 Specifications:
Body: 6.53 x 3.00 x 0.34-inches, 189gm
Display: 6.5-inches IPS LCD panel, 80.6% screen-to-body ratio, 270 PPI
Resolution: HD+ (1600 x 720 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio
Chipset: MediaTek Helio P22 (12nm mobile platform)
Like I said earlier, there’s hardly any deviation in the design language of the Nokia 2.4 compared to the Nokia 2.3—let alone an overhaul. It is still sturdy and feels super nice on the hand. For what it’s worth, the phone much more premium for the price. As expected, it has a polycarbonate body with a 3D nano-textured cover at the back. This offers a nice grip and even though it’s not a compact phone, I had no trouble holding it in.
Similarly, the rear panel is immune to fingerprints and smudges too, although it can get a little clammy after a while. The tiny space between the ridges may also attract dust particles which will be a little hard to get off. So, using a case is advised regardless. Nokia 2.4’s color options are quite attractive as well even though it doesn’t have a fancy reflective back.
Available in Fjord, Dusk, and Charcoal variants, the latter that I have with me complements the overall aesthetics nicely. Moving on, there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top frame alongside a primary microphone. The volume and power buttons are placed on the right, while there’s the trademark dedicated Google Assistant button on the left.
Buttons & Ports
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Headphone Jack
Power Button, Volume Rockers
SIM Slot
SIM Tray, Google Assistant button
Micro USB, Speaker
Finally, you’ll find the secondary mic, a micro USB port, and the speaker grille at the bottom. Like always, the Google Assistant (GA) button cannot be remapped natively, though you can with a third-party app like Button Mapper. You can already trigger GA using your voice or swiping from the bottom edge of the screen, so having a dedicated button feels redundant at this point.
Display
6.5-inches HD+ IPS LCD panel
Slightly heavy on the bezels
No protective glass of any kind
Getting to the display, Nokia 2.4 now has a bigger 6.5-inch IPS LCD panel, but with the same old HD+ resolution and a 20:9 aspect ratio. For its sub-15K price point, the inferior HD resolution isn’t surprising. But I must say, looking at the display contents with a fair enough distance, it actually doesn’t look that bad. Yet, having it close to you (like you would normally), one can notice the lack of sharpness in images.
Moreover, in its default setting, the display is a fair-bit on the warm side too. But it’s not something to worry about as you can easily dial it down to your preference under the “White Balance” option in the settings. Nokia 2.4 can get bright enough for indoors and cloudy outdoor situations but you will struggle to view the phone’s content under direct sunlight. Like any other traditional budget phone, you’re greeted with quite a bit of bezel here as well.
Thankfully, the rounded edges of the Nokia 2.4’s display don’t have any sort of discoloration. There’s a teardrop notch up top for the selfie camera and a big chin that’s home to a “Nokia” branding. Overall, the phone manages to net out 80.6% screen-to-body ratio. Unlike its predecessor, I didn’t notice a single instance of accidental touches on the Nokia 2.4.
Performance
Octa-core MediaTek Helio P22 SoC (12nm)
2/3GB RAM, with 32/64GB of expandable internal storage
Android 10 (and a part of the Android One program)
The performance sees a much-required boost as it comes with an octa-core Helio P22 processor from MediaTek—while the Nokia 2.3 was powered by a quad-core Helio A22. Because of this, the user experience is considerably better. The image processing is faster and so are other assorted actions. But mind you, this assertion only comes with a direct comparison between the aforementioned phones when in reality, the core performance of the Nokia 2.4 still isn’t that great.
Here, Nokia has coupled the Helio P22 with either 2/3GB of RAM and up to 64GB of expandable internal storage. My review unit has a 2/32GB configuration and it didn’t fare well under my usage. First off, the RAM management is almost laughable. Out of the 2GB available, the system occupies around 60% and you only get about 700MB to play around with.
Because of this, I time-and-again witnessed stutters and lags during gaming or even light multitasking sessions. The system UI would also briefly misbehave when certain heavy apps are in the memory. Furthermore, out of 32GB, 11GB is occupied by the system itself. So, I would highly encourage you to get the 3/64GB model instead.
Gaming
Talking about gaming, light games like Among Us, Clash Royale, Mario Kart Tour, etc. work perfectly fine. Similarly, I tried playing Call of Duty: Mobile and it ran fine under “Low” graphics and “Low” frame rate although upping the frame rate to medium or high would result in frequent lags.
On the other hand, PUBG Mobile Lite is playable even in “HD” graphics and ‘Extreme” frame rates. But, your gameplay will be subject to frequent stutters. Moreover, the touch response on the display would give up on me at times, making my gameplay experience abysmal.
Nokia 2.4 runs on stock Android 10 and is also a part of the Android One program, thus promising two years of software and up to three years of security updates. At the time of writing this review, my unit of Nokia 2.4 has already received September’s security patch. HMD Global had already revealed the Android 11 update plan for the phone on Q1 2021 but quickly took down the post. So, when it’ll receive the latest Android update remains a mystery now.
Camera
Dual-cameras at the back
(13MP primary lens with 2MP depth sensor)
5MP front-facing camera inside a teardrop notch
Cameras
1 of 2
Back Cameras
Front Camera
There’s the same dual rear camera setup at the back and a single front-facing lens on the Nokia 2.4. As a result, the camera performance is more or less the same as its predecessor. The 13MP primary sensor alongside a 2MP depth sensor and the LED flash has been placed inside a vertical pill-shaped module, with a dismissable bump.
Normal Images
Images from the primary sensor can look pretty good if you can get ample lighting.
Normal
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They are fairly sharp and have plenty of details to enjoy and the colors aren’t all that bad either. Photos do tend to look a-bit undersaturated (sometimes a bit hazy as well), and the camera can’t lock-in focus fast enough either.
HDR on vs off
1 of 8
Normal
HDR on
Normal
HDR on
Normal
HDR on
Normal
HDR on
Turning on HDR does help a bit in terms of colors—but it’s a hit-or-miss. Most of the time, the difference between HDR & non-HDR images is practically zero but sometimes, it works wonders.
Portrait Images
Likewise, the 2MP depth sensor is just about average.
Portrait
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The edge detection is flawed and at times, the subject can look a bit oversaturated.
Nighttime Images
Nighttime images aren’t any good either. It looks completely hazy and the image is rather soft and full of grains.
Nighttime
1 of 8
Normal Nighttime
Night Mode
Normal Nighttime
Night Mode
Normal Nighttime
Night Mode
Normal Nighttime
Night Mode
Surprisingly, there’s a dedicated “Night Mode” in the camera UI but as I suspected, it’s a complete gimmick and doesn’t improve the image quality in any way.
Selfie Images
Selfies from the 5MP selfie camera, just like the primary lens can look okay-ish with plenty of ambient light. But for the most part, subjects look pale and lifeless.
Selfie, Portrait Selfie
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Selfie
Portrait Selfie
Selfie
Portrait Selfie
Selfie
Portrait Selfie
Selfie
Portrait Selfie
Software-based selfie portrait is not that good either and the edge-detection is rather flawed here too.
Videos
In terms of videos, Nokia 2.4 maxes out at 1080p from both front and back cameras. The sensor fails to lock-in exposure and the footage comes out very wobbly. Once again, I was surprised to find out the “Video Stabilization” feature inside the camera settings but this was a gimmick as well.
Battery
4500mAh battery with 5W charging
Getting to the battery, the phone has a decent 4500mAh cell which Nokia claims can last up to 2 days. The company’s similar claim in its other devices with similar battery capacity was true during our review and thankfully, Nokia 2.4 proudly embraces that tradition.
With light to medium usage, it can easily last you two days and should also get you through your day on heavy use. I watched a 2.5 hours movie with full brightness and max volume, and it only depleted 22% of the battery. All in all, you can get somewhere between 7 – 8 hours of screen-on time on this phone. But charging it via the micro USB connection takes a while. With its 5W charging, it took me about 3 hours 5 minutes to fully juice up the phone from 0 – 100%.
Others
A circular physical fingerprint scanner
3.5mm headphone jack, single bottom-firing speaker
Other features of the phone include a circular plastic fingerprint sensor at the back. It’s definitely not the fastest one out there and takes almost a second to unlock. Also, if you try using it back-to-back, most of the time, it won’t work on the first try. And as usual, sweaty, wet fingers are a no-go too. Nokia 2.4 also supports face unlock but it’s even slower and less secure. Taking about 2 seconds per unlock, the lock screen doesn’t even show any indicator if it’s scanning for a face.
Finally, the single bottom-firing speaker isn’t that great either. The audio sounds shallow, incomplete and you won’t hear all the details from this. Likewise, there is almost no bass from the speaker. On the contrary, the audio from the 3.5mm headphone jack is much better, but nothing extraordinary.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Nokia 2.4 is a decent entry-level Android phone, whose stock Android experience, excellent battery life, and seamless design should speak volumes to many people. However, from a pure performance perspective, there are a lot better options out there in the market from companies like Xiaomi, Realme, etc.
Watch our video review of the Nokia 2.4.
Nokia 2.4 Review: Pros & Cons
Pros:
Decent, sturdy build quality
Stock Android experience on a budget
Terrific battery life (almost a 2-day device)
Lightweight games work fine
Tall display with acceptable color quality, sharpness
Cons:
2GB RAM variant has insufficient usable memory
The fingerprint scanner is slow and doesn’t work well
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